Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking – Form A‑3 Collection

The Test directory holds a small but historically rich set of documents that illustrate the regulatory landscape of U.S. banking in the 1920s and a fragment of Soviet‑era administrative correspondence. The collection is centred on the Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking (FRC‑BGCB), an early Federal Reserve Board committee that monitored the growth, consolidation, and liquidation of state‑chartered banks. The documents include a formal Form A‑3 used by the committee to record bank changes in Indiana, a bank‑takeover questionnaire, and a Russian‑language report from a commission investigating the conduct of a Soviet naval officer.

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1. Collection Overview

| Item | File | Format | Key Content | Source | |------|------|--------|-------------|--------| | 1 | `File 1` | JSON | Metadata for the Indiana Form A‑3 | PINAX | | 2 | `File 2` | JPEG + OCR | Indiana bank changes (1921‑1930) | Arke Institute | | 3 | `File 3` | JPEG + OCR | Russian commission report (December 1921) | Arke Institute | | 4 | `File 4` | JPEG + OCR | Bank takeover questionnaire | Arke Institute |

The collection is public‑domain and freely available for research and educational use.

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2. Historical Context

2.1 The Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking

• Established: 1921, as part of the Federal Reserve Board’s efforts to regulate the rapidly expanding network of state‑chartered banks.
• Mandate: Monitor and report on consolidations, liquidations, primary organizations, and conversions of banks, especially in the Midwest.
• Form A‑3: The standard reporting template used by state banking departments to submit quarterly or annual updates to the committee.

2.2 Banking in Indiana (1921‑1930)

• The 1920s saw a wave of bank consolidations as smaller rural banks merged to survive the post‑war economic boom.
• The Indiana Department of Banking was required to file Form A‑3 each time a bank underwent a structural change.
• The data captured in the Form A‑3 provide a snapshot of the evolving banking landscape, including population shifts, capital changes, and resource totals.

2.3 Soviet‑Era Administrative Correspondence

• The Russian document (File 3) is a commission report from December 1921, dealing with the conduct of Captain Osip Savchenkov in the Chukotka region.
• It reflects the early Soviet practice of investigating and documenting the actions of officials, often in a bureaucratic style that mixes legal language with procedural directives.
• The text is partially truncated, but key themes include investigation procedures, inheritance matters, and ship dispatch.

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3. Item Descriptions

3.1 File 1 – Metadata (JSON)

```json { "id": "01K9D22MN0JJ06N1NE4GFKC6EE", "title": "Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking - Form A-3", "type": "Text", "creator": "Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking", "institution": "Test", "created": "1927-06-01", "language": "en", "subjects": [ "Banking", "Financial institutions", "Indiana", "Bank changes", "Bank liquidation" ], "description": "Form A-3 from the Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking reporting bank changes during 1921-1930 in Indiana.", "access_url": "PLACEHOLDER", "source": "PINAX", "rights": "PUBLIC DOMAIN", "place": "Indiana" } ```

Key Points

• The form was filed on June 1, 1927.
• It documents bank changes that occurred during the decade 1921‑1930.
• The data are in English and were produced by the Federal Reserve Committee.

3.2 File 2 – Indiana Form A‑3 (JPEG + OCR)

The OCR text reproduces the structure of the official form:

``` Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking Form A-3 State Indiana Date of change 6/1/27

BANK CHANGES DURING 1921-1930 Report on a separate copy of this form each consolidation, liquidation, primary organization, etc., and check in the space at the right the kind of change.

City or town Name | Population* | Names of all banks and trust companies, of any kind, involved in this change | Paid-in capital | Loans and investments | Total resources (000's omitted)

KIND OF CHANGE: Consolidation _ Liquidation _ Primary organization x Conversion of private bank _

NET CHANGE IN NUMBER OF STATE INSTITUTIONS: Increase 1 Decrease _

Name or names before change Name or names after change Newly organized (primary) Angola 2650 Angola State Bank 41 1/2 ```

#### 3.2.1 Sample Entry – Angola State Bank

| Field | Value | |-------|-------| | City | Angola | | Population | 2,650 | | Bank(s) involved | Angola State Bank | | Paid‑in Capital | 41.5 (thousands) | | Loans & Investments | Not specified in OCR | | Total Resources | Not specified in OCR | | Kind of Change | Primary organization | | Net Change | Increase 1 |

The OCR indicates a primary organization (i.e., a newly organized bank).

#### 3.2.2 Form Structure

| Section | Purpose | |---------|---------| | Header | Committee name, form title, state, date | | Introduction | Instructions for reporting each change | | Table | City, bank names, financial figures | | Kind of Change | Checkboxes for consolidation, liquidation, etc. | | Net Change | Summary of increase/decrease in institutions | | Before/After | Names of banks before and after the change | | Newly Organized | Details of newly formed banks |

3.3 File 3 – Russian Commission Report (JPEG + OCR)

The OCR text is a mixture of Russian and transliterated words, reflecting a typical Soviet commission report. The key sections are:

• Investigation of Captain Osip Savchenkov
- The commission is tasked with questioning the captain regarding his conduct in Chukotka. - It references a “state soul” (likely a mistranslation of state authority). - The report calls for a “full interrogation” and “pre‑clarification” through the Senate.
• Novi‑Arkhangelsk Committee
- Discusses inheritance matters concerning Katerina Nosova and her heirs. - Mentions a “ship Kadjak” and its dispatch from Kamfurn to Sandingesky.
• Miscellaneous
- The document is truncated, but it contains procedural directives and references to “legal inheritance” and “ship dispatch”.

Translation Summary

> The commission is instructed to investigate Captain Osip Savchenkov’s actions in Chukotka, to clarify his conduct through Senate channels, and to report findings to the spiritual authority. It also addresses inheritance claims of the Nosova family and the dispatch of the ship Kadjak from Kamfurn to the Sandegeysky region.

3.4 File 4 – Bank Takeover Questionnaire (JPEG + OCR)

The OCR reproduces a questionnaire used to assess whether a bank has been taken over:

```

• Has this bank been taken over by another bank? No__ If so give:
Name of bank by which taken over__ Date taken over__

Loss to depositors on: Amount of loss Per cent of loss Secured claims................................. $ __ Preferred claims................................ $ __ General claims.................................... $ __ Total............................................. $ __

• Is this bank still in process of liquidation? Yes__ If so give payments to
```

Key Fields

• Takeover status (Yes/No)
• Acquiring bank name and date
• Loss amounts for different claim categories
• Liquidation status and payment schedule

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4. Significance and Uses

| Use Case | How the Collection Helps | |----------|--------------------------| | Banking History Research | Provides primary data on Indiana bank consolidations, primary organizations, and liquidations during the 1920s. | | Regulatory Studies | Illustrates the early Federal Reserve oversight mechanisms and reporting templates. | | Soviet Administrative History | Offers a glimpse into early Soviet commission procedures and bureaucratic language. | | Data Digitization Projects | Serves as a testbed for OCR accuracy and metadata extraction. | | Educational Materials | Can be used in courses on American banking, archival science, or Russian history. |

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5. Cross‑References

| Document | Related Item | Connection | |----------|--------------|------------| | File 2 (Indiana Form A‑3) | File 4 (Bank Takeover Questionnaire) | Both are bank‑change forms used by the FRC‑BGCB. | | File 1 (Metadata) | File 2 | Metadata describes the content of File 2. | | File 3 (Russian report) | None | Independent from the banking documents; included for comparative archival purposes. |

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6. References

• Federal Reserve Committee on Branch, Group and Chain Banking – Form A‑3, Indiana, 1927.
• Arke Institute – Digital asset repository hosting the JPEG images.
• PINAX – Source of the JSON metadata.
• Public Domain – All documents are free for use.

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7. Further Reading

• The Federal Reserve System and the Regulation of State Banks – A historical overview of the FRC‑BGCB.
• Banking in the American Midwest, 1920‑1930 – Contextualizes the Indiana bank changes.
• Soviet Administrative Practices in the 1920s – Explores the structure of commissions and investigations.

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This article is intended as a concise, encyclopedic reference for scholars, archivists, and students interested in early 20th‑century banking regulation and Soviet administrative documentation.